Bracknell Forest Runners

I was asked by Alan and Linda to organise the Wednesday track sessions and, as a starting point, I chose to draw on the sessions devised by John Newport and Bob Whyman over recent years. I scrutinised them to see if they fulfilled the requirements set out in the two articles that I posted on the coaching page on our BFR web-site, and by and large they did.1,2 The only changes that I have made with some of these sessions is to make them shorter, since having run them myself I found that they were too difficult to complete in time. (I had also noticed other people frequently did not complete the sessions.) What I really wanted to do is reconcile my first article that stressed the need to boost lactate threshold (LT) by controlling the recovery time between track session intervals and my second article that stressed the importance of intensity of the intervals to boost LT. In fact there is no contradiction between these two requirements, both are important and both can be controlled by using a heart rate monitor. A heart rate monitor also allows a runner to maintain the same speed for each interval, just by monitoring his or her training heart rate (THR). It is not easy to improve the VO2max of the average club runner, hence the strong emphasis on LT in our track sessions that can be boosted by intensive training.2 I want to include the use of heart rate monitors in our Wednesday track sessions, and to encourage this process I will include a percentage value of MHR (THR) for an interval in a track session on the BFR web-site. When appropriate, a reminder of the RHR will also be given. To show us how to get the best out of our training using a heart rate monitor for all forms of running (not just track sessions) for this article, I’ve paraphrased/adapted a chapter from an established and reliable book on running.3 One final point, I do not recommend using heart rate monitors when racing! CWS   

THE BENEFITS OF HEART RATE MONITOR TRAINING.

Heart rate monitor training helps to reduce the chances of overtraining, because safe, effective training is maintained whilst preventing an athlete from running too fast, and it discourages undertraining, a problem encountered when some runners run too slowly, too often. The majority of long training runs should be in an aerobic range, this is where with an adequate supply of oxygen to the working muscles, carbohydrate in the form of muscle glycogen and fats in the form of free fatty acids can be metabolised to form adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a key energy source. However, for speed training the runs should be in an anaerobic range, where only glycogen is a source of ATP, but which leads to a rapid build up of lactate. Tempo training runs, for example, are run at 85% to 90% of an individual’s MHR (an anaerobic pace).

Anaerobic training, will over time, increase an athlete’s lactate threshold (LT), a crucial objective when trying to increase speed endurance.

Monitor training is especially useful for interval training, which is generally carried out at an anaerobic pace – short intervals should be run in the 90% to 95% of MHR range, long intervals should be run at 85% to 90% of MHR range, and the recovery time is also controlled using a monitor.

When the MHR value for an individual and the RHR value are “inserted” into a monitor, an upper and lower limit for a safe training zone can be obtained that is between the THR and the RHR for a particular session.

The heart rate terms, already alluded to, are discussed in more detail below, five of these need to be considered when developing a heart rate training programme (the three most important heart rate terms are emphasised).

v  Resting heart rate (RestHR)

This is your heart rate at rest – either when first waking in the morning, before getting out of bed, or when you are very relaxed during the day. The average RestHR for men is 60 to 80 beats per minute; for women it is 70 to 90. These rates increase with age, and sedentary individuals may have RestHRs that exceed 100 beats per minute compared with serious endurance athletes who often have RestHRs in the 40 to 50 beats per minute range. Determining RestHR, over several months of training, is a good measure of fitness since as one gets fitter RestHR drops to 60, or even lower beats per minute. An elevated RestHR may also serve as a warning signal for overtraining – rest or cut back training until it returns to normal. An elevated RestHR may also be a sign of illness, lack of quality sleep, stress or dehydration, all of which need to be addressed.

v  Pre-exercise heart rate (PEHR)

PEHR is not the same as RestHR, because when an individual anticipates “going into action” his PEHR will be higher than his RestHR, and it can usefully be measured with a heart rate monitor just before a training session commences.

v  Maximum heart rate (MHR)

When exercising, your heart rate increases in direct response to the intensity of the work you do until you are at the point of exhaustion. At this point the heart “peaks out” and cannot beat any faster. This level is referred to as maximum heart rate. Knowing your MHR is essential in training programmes based on heart rate monitoring. There are three ways of measuring MHR. a) Firstly, there is laboratory testing, where the heart rate is monitored using an electrocardiogram whilst the work load is progressively increased using a treadmill. b) Secondly, a more common means of MHR determination is field testing, a version of which requires that after a 30 minute warm up the runner runs for 400m at approximately 95% effort, then after a recovery period of 2 minutes he runs even harder for the same distance; the second value, measured on a monitor and averaged, is the MHR. Alternative field tests use hill runs, 5k/10k race tests, or treadmill tests that mimic the more sophisticated laboratory tests. c) Finally, MHR can be estimated using a formula; the most commonly used formula is to subtract your age from 220 (it assumes that you lose one beat from MHR each year as you age). (Since this formula was determined by measuring heart rates on unfit individuals a more realistic estimate for fit athletes can be obtained by subtracting the age of the runner from 230.) When this method is used it is referred to as “estimated maximum heart rate” eMHR.

v  Training heart rate (THR)

You need to run at intensity high enough to get sufficient training effect, yet not overstress the body. To safely increase your endurance level, run at a steady pace within your THR range. At the lower end this running range falls between 70% and 85% of MHR and, over time, a maximum improvement in aerobic conditioning is experienced (although some easy runs in the 60% to 70% range can still be beneficial).1 Above 85% of MHR you will see little improvement in additional aerobic fitness; however, to perform well in races you need to train intensely and somewhere between 80% and 90% of MHR is where training phases into anaerobic training, and this is where your LT is reached.2  If you push your heart rate above this threshold you will begin to rapidly accumulate lactic acid in your muscles, leading to fatigue. Most elite runners work at the higher end of the THR range, this is between 85% and 95% of their MHR’s during hard workouts to improve their LT’s.

v  Recovery heart rate (RHR)

A monitor is also used to determine a recovery period between intervals in interval training. The accepted standard is to jog, or preferably walk, until the heart rate has dropped to 120 beats per minute (or approximately 65% of MHR) before starting the next interval.

N.B. a cool-down is essential following all kinds of run, especially an intensive training run. Ideally this consists of an easy walk for 5 – 10 minutes until your heart rate is down to about 20 beats per minute above your PEHR followed by stretching.

1.      ENDURANCE TRAINING.

2.      THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOOD LACTATE THRESHOLD.

3.      Glover, B., Glover, S., F., the Competitive runner’s handbook; published by the Penguin Group.